Cab-coupler



. v s. B. ATWATER.

I Car Coupling.

Pate'nted Mar. 8,1859.

Inventor:

Witnes ses= fim4 UNITED STATES PATENT orator.

I. B. ATWATER, OF BERLIN, WISCONSIN.

CAR-COUPLER.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 23,145, dated March 8, 1859.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, I. B. ATWATER, of Berlin, in the county of Green Lake and State of IVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad- Car Couplers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,-and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in the arrangement of those parts together which will be hereinafter described.

In the annexed drawings Figure 1 is a back perspective view of the coupler. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 8 is a detached View of the falling gate.

In the drawings A, A, represent the body of the coupler to which is attached the front piece F, which is provided with a hole through which the link passes before it can be secured by the pin.

B, represents a portion of the platform, said platform having attached to it a catch m.

- C, represents a gate which is secured tothe body of the coupler back of the front piece F, in such a manner that it may be raised or dropped at pleasure.

n, represents a projection which is secured to the bottom of the gate C.

E, represents the pin which is attached at its upper end to the top of the gate by means of a book 0, as seen in Fig. 2.

a, represents a door which is loosely hinged on the bottom piece of the body of the coupler. This door is turned over at its top, as seen, and is provided on its side with an inclined projection 0.

D, is a lever one end of which is secured to the pin E. This lever has its fulcrum at m, in the upright H.

i, is an adjustable piece which plays up and down upon the two sides of the gate be tween the pins, p, 79-.

In operating this coupler I depress the outer end of lever D, for the purpose of raising the pin, said end being secured down by means of catch at on the platformthe lever may be down and secured by the catch in posit-ion to enable the brakesman to couple the train, but not so arranged as to couple itself-in order to make it couple itself I have the lever D, down-as far as it will go this elevates the gate and its inclined projection a, operates through a slot in the bottom of the body of thecoupler and presses against the inclined projection 0, on the hinged door a, which throws the door up in an erect position as is seen in Fig. 2, its turned over upper end, standing under the point of the pin so as to hold it up-the back of said door resting against a pin or rest when the link of the car to be coupled approaches the coupler and enters the hole in the front piece F, said link strikes against the back of the door a, and pushes it from under the pin E, and the gate and pin immediately fall, the pin passing through the link, and thus the cars are secured togetherthe piece 2', is for the purpose of pressing upon the end of the link and keeping it in proper position.

The distinguishing characteristic of this arrangement is the employment of the loosely hinged door a, turned over to support the pin :0 provided with the projection 0, in connection with the gate and projection n,-whereby the gate and pin may be elevated so that two cars may come together without connecting or damaging the pin or any other portion of the coupler, and whereby the door may be raised thus forming a self connector by simply pressing the lever lower down so as to make the projection of the gate operate the projection of the loosely hinged door, making it stand erect.

I do not lay any claim to the individual parts of this coupler uncombined with each other, and differently arranged-hence I disclaim all other arrangements for accomplishing the same purpose, confining myself to the arrangement herein set forth.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- The arrangement of the falling gate C, provided with projection a, loosely hinged door (5, turned over at its top and provided with inclined projection 0, adjustable piece '6, pin E, lever D, and catch at, the several parts being combined and operated substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein specified.

I. B. ATWATER. \Vitnesses I. N. Rooms, J. MOLAUGHLIN. 

